Ice-cooled refrigerator



g- 5, 3 F. JJSTOLLSTEIMER 2,169,599

ICE-COOLED REFRIGERATOR Filed July 2, 1937 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES ICE-COOLED REFRIGERATOR Frederick J. Stollsteimer, Upper Darby, Pa., assignor to Fleetwood Craftsmen, Inc., Fleetwood, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 2, 1937, Serial No.- 151,567

6 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators using ice as the cooling medium, and its primary objects are to provide an improved interior circulation of air washed free of contaminating odors,

having a high humidity to prevent dehydration of the stored food, and with automatically controlled lower temperatures than heretofore attainable.

Unaided natural draft air circulation in refrigerators has recognized advantages of simplicity of construction and operation, but has a more or less dehydration action on the stored food and undesirable limits in its cooling efficiency; and the present invention relates to improvements for supplementing such natural draft air circulation, and progressively washing it free of food odors, supplying it with a high degree of humidity, and chilling it to a low temperature which may be desirably regulated and controlled by a thermostat or like means.

With the above objects in view, and with other objects that will later herein appear, the present invention comprises the improved refrigerator construction and operation more fully described in the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the novel features thereof are set forth in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional front elevation, partspace, showing insulated walls enclosing an icecooled refrigerator chamber and indicating a preferred embodiment of the improved construction of the present invention. 7

Fig. 2 is a corresponding cross-sectional elevation, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 a similar cross-sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective detail of the ice supporting grid and the underlying drip catching troughs.

This invention is applicable to any usual ice cooled refrigerator or glass-walled display case, but, for simplicity, the drawing merely indicates the insulated walls enclosing a reach-in refrigerator chamber divided horizontally as heretofore to form an upper ice-storage compartment 2 and lower food storage compartment 3; access to the several compartments being provided by usual suitable door-closed apertures, not shown.

The means for dividing the refrigerator form an important part of the present invention, and the preferred embodiment shown in the drawing comprises an ice-supporting grid formed by a series of spaced inverted channel members 5, on

ly broken away and collapsed for economy of the ridges of which the ice rests, and the melting drops of the latter are arranged to be caught in a spaced underlying grid formed by a series of trough members 6', located below the spacings between the channel members 5.

The channel members 5 and trough members 6 are shown as supported at their ends as by suitable side wall brackets I, andare further shown as preferably parted intermediately by a transverse air-conduit box 8 extending between the front and rear walls: and carried as by wall brackets 9. The meeting ends of members 5 rest on said box 8, and are shown undercut to partial ly engage the sides of said' box and meet across the top of the latter. Exterior troughs ID, ID on' each side of box 8' form supports for the intermediate ends of said trough members 6, and spouts II, II from the ends of said troughs l0, H) are shown as discharging into the funnel end of a drainage pipe l2 extended through the bottom wall of the refrigerator chamber.

The'channel members 5 and troughs 6 effectively divide the refrigerator and form a rest platform for the ice, but do not obstruct free passage of air between the ice compartment 2 and food compartment 3, so that natural draft air'circulation between said compartments may function as heretofore. Such recognized advantageous natural draft circulation alone however has more or less harmful dehydrating action on the stored food and also has undesirably'high limits to the effective cooling temperature it can produce in storage chamber 3; and the heretofore stated objects of the present invention are to supplement such natural draft air circulation withintermittent forced air circulation, increase the humidity of such circulated air, and secure agreatly increased and controlled lower temperature in storage chamber 3. The preferred means shown in the drawing for accomplishing these objects will now be set forth.

The inverted channel members 5, on which the ice rests, are shown with outwardly flaring side walls, preferably apertured at intervals along their length, as shown at l5, to permit ice dripping to pass into the inner sides of said channel walls, and the bottom edges of the latter are shown as turned inwardly and upwardly to form troughs l6, l6 into which the drippings and condensation on the inner walls gather. If desired a limited number of bottom openings I! may be provided in said troughs It to maintain a storage level of water therein without overflow. The meeting ends of channels 5, as stated, are undercut to engage the sides of box 8, and said box is provided with a series of air-outlet openings [8,

spaced so that each opening is located inside and between the walls of the respective channel members 5. The channel members 5'are horizontal but the trough members 6 are tilted or inclined to drain into troughs l0, l0, and the latter are tilted or inclined to drain through spouts ll into drainage pipe l2. Arranged in communication with air-conduit box 8 is shown a fan enclosing housing 20, driven by a motor 2|, and a thermostat device 22 operatesto control the motor start a ing and stopping switch. Suitable wires, not shown, connect the motor to an outside electric circuit.

With ice in the compartment Land the thermostat set to operate at the desired temperature extremes of high and low, the action is as follows:

Natural draft circulation caused by diiference in temperature in compartments 2 and 3, causes vertical currents to pass up and down through the dividing grid, to cool in the ice chamber 2- and chill compartment 3. The air rising from compartments is washed and cooled by contact withsaid grid members and the melting drippings from the ice, and such circulation while effecting a new and improved chilling action in compartment 3, its vertical passage provides in sufliicent contact with the cooled'grid members and water drippings held by the'latter to chill 'the air as effectively as may be; Also the air rising from the chamber 3 has ordinarily absorbed moisture from the stored food, which is lost by condensation'in passing through the grid members thus dehydrating the food to a varying extent, as the vertical draft air passage is insufficient to properly restore this lost humidity 1 so that a'continuous fooddehydration occurs.

With the thermostat control mechanism set for a given variation'of temperature, an unduly high temperature starts the electric motor 2| which causes the fan in housingZO to force air from compartment 3 intoair conduit box at a slightly greater rate than ordinary escape through openings l8, so that such escaping air is driven out in jets directed underneath and longitudinally along the respective channel members 5 providing an increase of airand prolonged contacts of the latter withsaid :grid and the water drippings held by the latter.' 'Ifhis'in'creased and prolonged 1 air contact provides 'for a better and more thorough washin'g'of the passing air by usual con densation and drainage through pipe l2 to eliminate food odors therefrom; -a higher degree of humidity by 'increased *absorption of moisture from the dripping and stored water in the grid members so that later contact with the; food sup-1 plies moisture to the latter instead of dehydrating it; and it further chills the air to an increased low temperature until the low limit of the thermostat control setting is reached, when the motor is automatically shut ofi The grid channel members 5 as shown and described have both,

their inner and outer walls constantly supplied by moisture in'the form of drippingsfrom the ice; and such drippings are caughtin wall troughs lfiand'drainagetroughs 6 andlfl, so that the air passing theralong and over the same has ample time to draw allnecessary humidity and chilled temperature therefrom. And open air circulation through both compartments 2 and 3, insures equalized clean air conditions throughout the entirerefrigerator chamber within the enclosing Walls.

When the motor caused air: circulation isshut- 01f, natural circulation, increased and spurredby such forced circulation, continues to keep storage compartment 3 at a low temperature until the thermostat control again calls for forced circulation. In practice it has been found that the cycles of forced circulation may have prolonged periods of intermediate rest due to the circulation stimulating effect, and such forced circulation while in free communication with storage chamber 2 does not directly blow across the ice, so that consumption of the latter is not notably increased. Y

'While the present improvements have been shown and described for a refrigerator chamber intermediately separated to form upper ice storage and lower food storage compartments, it is 'to be understood it'is not necessarily limited to this type butmay be equally effective when the ice is stored at one side of the food compartment, or otherwise located in relation thereto, and other modifications andchanges from the specific construction above disclosed may be devised and are intended to be included in the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. An icecooled refrigerator comprising a refrigerator chamber havingice storage and food Storage compartments in air-communication with each other, an interposed ice-supporting grid formed of inverted channel members, a grid of drip-catching trough members for said channel;

members having means connecting the same to a discharge outlet outside said chamber, and aian mechanism adapted to intermittently circulate,

air currents from said food storage compartment longitudinally beneath the supporting grid and along the under sides of said channel members and in contact with the ice drippings to said.

trough members.

2. An ice-cooled refrigerator comprising a refrigerator chamber'having ice storage and food storage compartments, in air-communication with each other, an interposed. ice-supporting grid formed of inverted channel members having openings in th eside walls thereof forming moisturej passageways to the inner channel walls, a grid of drip-catching itrough members for said channel members having means connectingthe same to a discharge ,outletoutside said chamber, and

means for lowering the chamber temperaturebelow that of natural draft circulation through} sald grids comprising a fan mechanism adapted to circulate air currents from the food storage compartments along the under sides of said channel members, and above said trough members,

whereby the ice drippings willlprogressively Wash, f

humidify and chillsaid air. 1

3. In a refrigerator having an interior chaminner wallsof said channelmembers and abovesaid trough. members,

4. In a, refrigerator having an interior cham ber, an ice-supporting grid formed of inverted channel members. transversely. dividing said chamber into ice-storage and food storage compartments and apertures in the side walls of said channels forming moisture passageways to the in- 1 ner channel walls, said channel members having inwardly directed wall troughs at their bottom edges, a drip-catching grid formed of trough members underlying the grid openings and having means connecting the same to a discharge outlet outside said chamber, and a fan mechanism adapted to circulate air currents longitudinally along the inner walls of said channel members and above said trough members.

5. In a refrigerator having an interior chamber, an ice-supporting grid transversely dividing said chamber into ice storage and food-storage compartments in air communication with each other, a drip catching grid formed of trough members underlying the grid spacings between said channel members and having means for connecting the latter to a discharge outlet outside said chamber, an air-supply box extending crosswise of and intermediately dividing said ice-supporting and drip-catching grids and having air discharge outlets arranged within the respective channel members of the ice-supporting grid, and a fan mechanism for supplying air to said box and forcing it outwardly therefrom through said outlets to progress longitudinally along the inner sides of said channel members and above said trough members.

6. The construction set forth in claim 5 wherein the inverted channels have apertures in their side walls forming moisture passageways and said side walls have inwardly directed troughs at their bottom edges, apertures in the trough members for discharging part of the water caught in the latter.

FREDERICK J. STOLLSTEIMER. 

